Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
Ezra
There’s one more event of the day, but the alphas and omegas are getting a short break before the event and dinner. Already, I’m over this day. It feels remarkably long.
It’s strange. I’m accustomed to going over spreadsheets of pack accounting. I’m accustomed to running with my pack and hunting meat for our storage freezers. And yet, I find The Selection more exhausting than anything I’ve done back home.
No, that’s not true. I find the fact that a fucking alpha is beating and abusing an omega to be a gut punch that I cannot tolerate. I will not tolerate. If I could guarantee Faye’s safety, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do to Kurt to ensure he never hurts her again.
But I can’t ensure it.
After The Selection, I’ll be going home, and apparently–although my teeth grit at just the thought of it– Faye will be returning home to an empty cabin where Kurt can torment her without limit should he choose to do so. Correction, that torment might be limited, given the fact that Faye’s alpha, Charles, would very quickly assign her a man to get through her heat with who would not allow her to be badly harmed by Kurt, but an assigned male is not the same thing as a mate. He wouldn’t fight to his death for her.
My fists clench, and I nearly punch the hallway as I storm through it. I don’t want to play charades. I don’t want to have a fucking dinner where we all smile at one another, and I have to avoid the hands of the omegas as they try to grab my dick under the table.
I just want to come up with a way to keep Faye safe.
As I approach my room, I spot Cayson leaning against the wall up ahead. He looks casual, like he always does, but there’s tension in his shoulders. It’s unlike him. I swear he’s been changing and maturing from a boy into a man since he arrived at The Selection. Well, not a full grown man, more like a teen who is starting to realize the world doesn’t revolve around them and their fun.
“Yo, Pops,” Cayson greets me, his dark eyes lighting with amusement.
As I get closer, his smile falters.
“Hey,” I say.
Something unexpected and guarded comes over his face. “Why do you smell like Faye?” His gaze moves over the bruise on my face, but he doesn’t ask anything more.
I stiffen. Have I smelled like her all day? Fuck. I should’ve showered when I came back from her room. The other alphas will have the wrong impression, which might hurt her in her search for a partner.
“It’s a long explanation,” I grate out.
He lifts a brow, his mouth in a thin line. “Care to share it with me?”
Interesting. I unlock my door and push it open, waving for him to enter. He does so, his back stiff.
“So you want to know what happened with me and Faye?” I ask.
He whirls on me. “So, something did happen?” he accuses.
I eye him. “Why do you care if you’re not in the market for an omega?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “Why is something happening between you and Faye if you don’t want an omega? I never saw you as the kind of guy that would play with a girl and then throw her away when you’re done.”
“I’m not that kind of man,” I tell him dryly. “Unlike you. Because isn’t that exactly what you want Faye for?”
He opens his mouth, then closes it, before opening it again. “Are you going to explain what happened or not?”
Crossing the room, I take a seat in one of the large chairs in front of the fire. Cayson mirrors my movements, sitting across from me.
“I went to check on Faye in her room after she left the dance.”
Cayson doesn’t look happy. “Why? It seems to me you have no business in her room.”
I laugh.
“Don’t laugh,” he says, leaning forward.
I shake my head. “It’s just… I’ve never seen you like this before. Up until now, I swore you didn’t have a jealous bone in your body. I’m pretty sure I could fuck any of your exes, and not only would you not care, you’d ask to join in.”
“Perhaps.” He shrugs. “And I’m not jealous. I’m just trying to understand how you go from my uptight friend with a sword up his ass, spouting about honor and responsibility, to ending up in my omega’s room.”
“ Your omega?” The way he says it sends an unexpected streak of jealousy cutting right through me.
“Faye. The omega. An omega,” he corrects himself.
Not liking how this conversation is making me feel, I decide to stop torturing him. “I went to her room and checked on her and found Kurt beating her up. So I–”
“What the fuck did you just say?” Cayson asks, leaping out of his chair, anger like nothing I’ve ever seen in him painted across his face. “That tiny-dicked asshole from Pack Obsidian? The wimp who hides behind his daddy’s skirt and couldn’t please a woman if he was given a much larger strap on was hurting Faye?”
Again, I’m shocked by the intensity of his reaction when it comes to Faye. It reminds me of my own. “Yeah, and he’s the same guy she’s been scared of throughout the whole Selection.”
He doesn’t look surprised, more like the puzzle pieces are finally coming together. Probably because we’ve both heard the rumors about Kurt. He’s a monster hiding amongst wolves. The whispers of the things he does, before using his father to shield him from the consequences, would make anyone hesitate to mess with him.
Except Cayson and I. As dangerous as his father is, our fathers are far more powerful. We’re from perhaps some of the only packs who could stand up against Pack Obsidian, should there be a problem.
“Well, what are we doing? Let’s go mess him up so badly even his daddy won’t recognize him,” Cayson says.
And it’s weird. Cayson can fight, but he’s never been a fighter . More of a lover.
I show him my beat-up hands. “I already gave him a little lesson.”
Cayson seems uncertain, but slowly sits down. “So, what are we going to do about this?”
“She doesn’t want the council to know because she intends to return to her pack lands soon, which border Kurt’s lands, and she doesn’t want to bring down trouble on herself.”
He scoffs. “Faye needs to leave The Selection with an alpha. Hell, she needs to leave with a pack of them. Men who will tear Kurt from one hole to another, regardless of his daddy , if he ever comes near her again.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
“But she doesn’t want that.”
I sigh. “No, she doesn’t.”
“Which is completely ridiculous.”
“Completely.”
“Although…” he begins then hesitates. “I don’t exactly mind the fact that she doesn’t have alphas sniffing all over her.”
A smile I can’t stop comes to my lips. “No. That’s not bad.”
We’re quiet again. Our minds working. As alphas, we’re not used to feeling useless. When there’s a problem, we fix it, and that’s the end of it. But Faye is a problem we can’t seem to fix.
“Cayson…” I begin, trying to work my thoughts out properly. “Faye isn’t like the other women you’ve chased. She’s fragile. And innocent. You can’t play with her without breaking her.”
He gives me a strange look. “I’m not playing with her.”
“Then what are you doing?”
He runs his hands through his blond hair, almost angrily. “I’m not sure, but I just like to be around her. I want to get to know her. If I don’t, I have a feeling I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. Besides, she doesn’t want an alpha. I don’t want an omega. Our intentions are clear.”
Even as he says the words, they don’t ring true, but I don’t call him out on it, because the one thing I do believe is that he’s not planning on hurting Faye.
“Besides, Faye seems like she needs some laughter and fun in her life. I think I can give that to her, at least for a little while,” he says.
He’s not wrong about that.
“I think I’m going to bribe the guards to keep a closer eye on Faye’s room,” I say.
Cayson nods. “Smart idea. A good first step. If that doesn’t work, we break all his arms and legs.”
I like Cayson. “Agreed.”
Even though it’s not that easy. Scuffles between pack members are normal, something the alphas of the packs ignore. But if we were to do major damage, it would become a big issue. The council would be brought in. Punishments would be dealt out. Shame would follow anyone involved.
Yet, for some reason, the consequences feel like they might be worth it.
“So,” he says, pulling out a cigarette and rolling it between his fingers. “We don’t beat the shit out of Kurt. Yet . We’re both still in agreement about not wanting an omega, and we both admit that there’s just something irresistible about Faye.”
“I never said that last part,” I tell him.
He grins. “You didn’t have to.”
I settle back in my chair, wanting to argue, but knowing there’s no point. There really is just… something about Faye. Something I can’t put my finger on. But regardless, that strange feeling changes nothing. Once these games are over, I’ll be going home, and I’ll never see Faye again.
Which is what I want…
Even though I can’t help but picture Faye at dinner with my parents, laughing. Or reading books to the school children while they gather around with curious eyes. Or even helping me to figure out grants for our farm equipment. It seems that for all my strengths, Faye has some things I lack. Things that would work well for my pack.
Which is a stupid thought. Unless Faye chooses an alpha from Pack Azure, I’ll likely never see her again after this.
Her smile dances in the back of my mind, and I eye Cayson’s cigarette, wondering if starting the habit might ease some of these treacherous thoughts. Yet, I have a feeling not even cigarettes and booze can fix something like this.